Ch.381Chapter 381 – Even I Didn’t Expect This?

There’s a saying that “a thief who learns late doesn’t know when dawn breaks.”

This means that someone who starts something later than others, or begins in old age, often becomes more passionate and works harder at it than others.

The reason this saying suddenly came to mind was because it perfectly described the situation between me and my wives.

Until now, there had been a single wedge barely preventing my relationship with them from progressing beyond a certain point.

That wedge which had been precariously supporting our relationship, ready to collapse if someone just took the initiative to remove it…

Completely disappeared during this trip.

We had merely taken one step closer to each other, but like a car parked on a slope, our relationship suddenly began accelerating.

As a result, I accomplished the remarkable feat of handling two people per day, eight people in total.

“You’re forbidden from moving for a while.”

“Yeah…”

I ended up in a state where I couldn’t use my waist for some time.

My waist was damaged so severely that… pain would shoot through it whenever I tried to move my arms or legs, making daily life difficult.

The fortunate thing was that Eterna was regularly treating me with holy magic, and thanks to the painkillers Emelda made, I could at least sleep well.

I probably could heal myself with my abilities, but lying still and having my wives bring me food was so comfortable that I just remained as I was.

Moreover, because of my injured waist, they weren’t touching me at night either, so I was waiting for natural healing to take its course.

Since I injured my waist, only the woman-on-top position is possible, but even that could worsen my injury if done incorrectly.

Because of this, although they look at me with desire, no one can touch me until my waist heals.

“How are things going in the Empire?”

“Well, same as always. Unless there’s a monster horde appearing near the border or attacking a small village requiring the dispatch of an extermination squad, there aren’t any particular problems.”

Hmm, the Empire’s peaceful daily life as usual.

“I’ll bring you your meal. Today’s lunch is steamed fish freshly caught from the sea, topped with a sweet and sour sauce.”

“Sounds good.”

Hmm, fish with sweet and sour sauce. The sea here is relatively clean, so the fish doesn’t have much of a fishy smell, which is nice.

But lately, it seems like there have been quite a few dishes using sweet and sour sauce or tangy dressings.

Just two days ago, we had bread with a tangy cream sauce made from lemon juice, right?

Yesterday, we had sweet and sour pork. With a sauce loaded with vinegar and sugar.

“Huh?”

At this point, even someone as insensitive as me could notice.

An unusually high proportion of meals had been sour-tasting foods.

I’ve heard that when women become pregnant, they often crave sour foods…

Could it be that someone is pregnant? Is that why sour foods have been appearing frequently?

In times like this, I should call an expert.

“Eterna!”

I called out loudly for Eterna. She should be nearby since she needs to treat my waist regularly.

“Did you call for me?”

As soon as I called her name, Eterna opened the door and appeared with a bright smile.

I’m not sure what she was doing just before, but her hands were wet, so she must have been doing something.

“Eterna. Lately, it seems like foods with sour tastes are being prepared unusually often. Do you know why?”

“Oh, that? Recently, Duchess Karen has lost her appetite and can’t eat well. But she seems to eat sour foods relatively well, so we’ve been mainly serving dishes with sour flavors lately.”

Karen eats sour foods well but has lost her appetite for other foods.

This is a phenomenon commonly seen in pregnant women.

I looked at Eterna and said:

“Eterna. Do you know a way to confirm pregnancy?”

“Pregnancy? Oh my! Now that you mention it!”

Eterna seemed to realize something from my words and was startled. She went outside, and I heard some commotion, then shortly after, she returned to my room.

And the words that came from her mouth did not deviate from my expectation.

“Lord Patos! Congratulations! Duchess Karen is pregnant!”

Yes, Karen had said she was in her fertile period, so it’s natural that she got pregnant. In fact, the reason we came here was specifically to have a child.

“And it’s twins!”

“What?”

That’s something even I didn’t expect!

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

In the imperial palace of Aurelius, the capital of the Gelebrio Empire, a regular cabinet meeting presided over by Decatro IV was in full swing.

Although the academy had entered its vacation period, there was no vacation for state administration.

Therefore, Decatro IV and the officials were waiting for the cabinet meeting to end.

It wasn’t as if they enjoyed sitting here.

The only reason they were sitting here for the cabinet meeting was for their families and houses.

During a short break, to lighten the mood, Decatro IV spoke to the elderly man sitting on his right.

“I heard that Count Deorak’s grandchild was born recently.”

“I’m honored that you remember, Your Majesty. The child is truly adorable, I still think about it.”

“Is that so.”

Decatro IV secretly envied Count Deorak who had started boasting about his grandchild.

He had a married daughter himself, but the man who was supposed to be his son-in-law was such a shy fellow who couldn’t even properly hold a woman’s hand, so there was still no good news.

‘My Karen lacks nothing in appearance or character.’

Of course, Decatro IV also knew how formidable the women around him were, so he could only sigh.

After talking among themselves about grandchildren for quite some time, they noticed the Emperor’s gaze and quietly lowered their voices.

“Your Majesty! Emperor!”

At that moment, the door to the meeting hall burst open and the head chamberlain appeared.

He was panting, and the fact that this man who usually maintained a composed demeanor was out of breath caught the attention of Decatro IV and the others.

“What is the matter? What could cause such a commotion in my palace?”

Decatro IV was surprised, having never seen the head chamberlain panting like this before.

“Forgive my transgression. However, such good news has arrived that I ran here without delay.”

“I forgive your transgression. So, what is this good news?”

Decatro IV began to imagine what this good news might be upon hearing the chamberlain’s words.

Did that son-in-law finally do something? But he shook his head.

Knowing Patos’s personality, he was still far from taking action.

‘Has a neighboring country decided to pay tribute to us? Or has some trade negotiation gone well? Or perhaps there are signs of a bountiful harvest?’

While Decatro IV was lost in his own thoughts, the head chamberlain caught his breath and finally delivered the news.

“Your Imperial Majesty! Congratulations! Word has come that the Duchess of Aurelion is with child!”

“What?”

Decatro IV couldn’t believe his ears.

Who was pregnant? Who?

“Who did you say is pregnant?”

“Your daughter, the First Imperial Princess of this country and the Duchess of Aurelion, Duchess Karen, is pregnant according to a magical communication that just arrived.”

“Karen… that child is pregnant?”

Though it was the news he had been longing for, Decatro IV couldn’t believe it.

“Is that true?”

“It is true, Your Majesty. The Holy Maiden of the Sun Order, Eterna Lumio Sol, has confirmed that it is definitely a pregnancy. And not just any pregnancy—twins!”

“What? Is that true!”

Upon hearing the news of the pregnancy, and that it was twins, Decatro IV sprang to his feet.

Seeing this, all the officials rose from their seats and began to applaud in unison.

“Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Duchess!”

“Your Majesty! Congratulations on your forthcoming imperial grandchildren!”

“Congratulations!”

They were celebrating the fact that Decatro IV would finally have grandchildren.

How much they had been sweating, watching the Emperor’s mood while talking about their own grandchildren among themselves.

But now that the Emperor would have grandchildren too, they could proudly bring up the topic of grandchildren in front of him.

After the news of Karen’s pregnancy was delivered, Decatro IV wanted to immediately suspend the cabinet meeting and go see Karen, but he was stopped by the chancellor.

“You must finish the meeting first.”

“Hmph, very well.”

In the end, it is said that he didn’t get to meet Karen in person until the day Patos returned from his vacation at the resort.